What If
by deleted 01020
Summary: yeah abandoned but i need to do a ra fic


Will looked at Alyss, desperately trying to dust all the dirt off her regulation frock. Feeling slightly shamed by Alyss' example, Will hurriedly started mimicking her actions. Like any Home uniform it was dotted with patches and hadn't been washed for months.

Will had lived in the Home since birth. He had been left on the doorstep, wrapped in a threadbare woollen blanket. Attached to the blanket had been a note reading:

"His mother died in childbirth.

His father died a hero.

Please care for him.

His name is Will"

The blanket had long since disappeared into the Home and the note long since lost. For a while it had just been him and Jenny who had been dropped on the doorstep mere days later. Alyss had come five years later, her mother and father murdered brutally late one night. Horace and George had arrived soon after. Will glanced over at Jenny, struggling to keep tears from falling. She felt Will's eyes train on her and quickly wiped her eyes and offered a smile in his direction before turning back the stage.

Lillian Shuckerford's voice rang out from the stage. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Reaping of District 7's Tributes for the 62nd Hunger Games!"

As the final notes of the video died away, Will heard the gentle sobs of those dreading the next few moments. It's not to say he wasn't dreading them either, it's just that he was growing to accept the fact that he did have a chance of possible death. In fact he had a better chance than other people might've. For the Home was funded by the Capitol, but the nurses in charge were known for the expensive alcohol tastes. So, to keep the institute running as well as keeping up with their alcohol debts, the children paid for themselves. In the form of a tesserae. Last time Will had looked his name had been entered 26 times, but that had been months ago, who knew what had happened since then. Alyss, Jenny and the others had considerably less. You see, the amount of tesserae depends on how long you've been there for and since Will had been their the longest out of all the other 12 year olds, he had the most. Had it not been for Jenny's help in the Home kitchen, paying off over half of what she owed the Home in the form of labour, she would've been quite close to Will.

Lillian bounced up to the microphone, her pink hair, tied up in an extravagant beehive bobbed up and down as she moved. Lillian licked her lips, before talking into the microphone.

"We'll have our ladies first. It's only polite!" She giggled. Her hairless arm delved into the bowl and pulled out a single slip of paper that would tear families apart as it was uttered.

"Holly Blackwood." She called. Will watched as Holly, a strong and confident 18 year old made her way to the stage. Will could tell she was just putting on a brave face, he had spent years of his life learning how to see beneath the surface of people, gauging their true intent.

"Next, the men!" Lillian called. Will heard Horace suck in his breath.

"Will." Lillian's manicured face creased in confusion. "Ah, does anyone know who this slip belongs to?" Murmurs rippled through assembled crowd. Will wiped the sweat off his forehead. That was his slip. It had been the only one out of many that he had written. Will had no last name, so he had just written 'Will'. But the nurses would've no doubt added 'from the Home' to the ones they had written. He sighed. He had to own up, they would figure it out in the end. A redraw wasn't an option under the ironclad grip of the Capitol.

"Me." Will raised a single shaking hand skywards. "It's mine."

Will staggered forlornly to the stage. As he moved closer to Lillian's expectant gaze and Holly's blank pity, we felt an invisible weight lug down on his shoulders. Will felt like curling up into a ball and staying there in a cocoon of comfort. But he kept going in his mindless walk, until finally he jerked to a halt beside Holly. His small figure looking obsolete against Holly's bulky form.

"Well," Lillian squeaked into the mic, "I believe we have our Tributes." A silent applause rippled through the crowd. A mute 'see you on the other side.' Will felt a single salty tear drip down his cheek, and land heavily on his bare feet.

'Why me?" He whispered.

Will heard the sounds of sobs and grieving farewells from the other side of the wall. He heard promises that couldn't be kept and lies hid the truth. He heard all of Holly's friends and family crowd in and bombard her with love and kisses. Meanwhile Will's room was bleak, his only visitors the rats that scurried in the shadows. But then in rushed Alyss. Her eyes red and raw from tears that had not yet stopped.

"Come back." She whispered into his wavy locks.

"I promise." He whispered back. But in his heart he knew that it was one promise he could not keep.

Alyss and Will exchanged farewells and anything else they could possibly think to say was said. But Alyss couldn't say forever. And once more Will was alone. At least, he thought he was. Out of the shadows whisked a man wearing a splotched cloak. It was dappled with greens, grays and the occasional black. His face was hidden by the cowl of his cloak, a bronze chain was clutched in his hands. Will froze, too stunned to speak. The man pressed the chain, which Will now saw had a bronze oak leak threaded into it, into his shaking hands.

"I had hoped to give this to you in less somber circumstances, but it seems now that that just wasn't to be." The man muttered. "This belonged to your great-grandfather. Keep it safe." Then without another word he was gone out the window. Will clutched the oak leaf tight in his shaking hands as he was escorted out of the building to the awaiting train.

The train bolted out of the station and started on its flight to the Capitol. Hiccup watched as the only home he had ever known, and the familiar forests that he had loved, trailed out of sight. He sat down on the enormous king's size bed in silence. He would never see his home again.

Will curled up on a heap on the couch next to Lillian, as they watched the Reapings from the other districts. As each tribute climbed the stage, Will felt himself sink slowly into the couch's welcoming folds. Out of all the other 22 tributes, only one was below sixteen; he was fifteen. There had been a twelve year old, but someone had quickly volunteered. Will was surprised to learn that the person who had volunteered and the girl who had been Reaped weren't even family, they were just friends. He chuckled. Horace would've never volunteered for him. The girl who had volunteered was called Raylene. She was slim with kind brown eyes. Her movements were graceful and without malice. Common to her district, District 12, she had brown hair tinged with ash. Her disctrict partner had no hope of surviving the Games. It was said in a close-up of the boy that each of his four brothers had died in the Hunger Games, succumbing to gruesome injuries, right in front of the poor boy's eyes. Rupert Garitone, his name was. Garitone. Will remembered that name from previous Hunger Games. The five brothers. Two had died in the Bloodbath. One had died by the poison of foreign arachnid. And one had been stabbed in the back by his ally, the girl from his district, and now another would be added to the list. Will shuddered; any one of these deaths could happen to him. Both of Rupert's parents had died from a broken heart, and so the boy had been handed to the Home. Will knew what that felt like, even though he had been too young at the time to really feel the loss of his parents. It was more the pain that he had no one there for him hurt the most. And the fact that he didn't know where they were hurt too. The others at least knew; Alyss, Jenny and Horace's parents had died and George's family hadn't enough money to support their five children. The Reapings flew by as Will watched. From 11 was two thin and brown haired 16 year olds. Pippen and Maya. From 7 there were two huge and tanned tributes. They both looked horrified as the were both reaped. Will later learned that they were twins. Raynie and Constance. 9 had two tributes with muscly upper arms. Sunny and Grant. 8 had two straggly tributes, with blonde wisps of hair. The girl looked slightly sick and was a head shorter than Will. Finn and Bonnie. Will stuffed his head under his pillow and shut his eyes as the District 7 Reaping was replayed. From 6 there were two narrow eyed tributes with platinum hair. Asa and Ravan. 5 had two limber tributes with freckled faces and blue eyes. Nima and Clem. 4's were muscled and confident. If they were worried, they didn't show it. Cress and Nemo. Cardamon and Poplaire from 3 were thin and wiry, with sad grey eyes. From 2 were Denim and Crystal. Their pure blonde hair and shaming gaze sent shivers down Will's spine. Finally came Flax and Cassia from 1. They were both eager volunteers with hopeful plans for futuristic fame and fortune. Will watched the Capitol Seal end the program, before heading off to his room. He had no interest in hearing Caesar Flickerman rant on about what tributes were the current favourites. He didn't want to be sitting there when Caesar told the rest of Panem that he had no hope of winning the Games.


End file.
